National Budget for fiscal year 2007-08

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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The 5th budget of this govt is being presented, which is quite an achievment in it’s own right. Upto Rs. 2 trillion outlay which is impressive, considering it was less than half that figure when Musharraf took over in 1999. :k:

National Budget for fiscal year 2007-08 today

The National budget for the fiscal year 2007-08 envisaging relief measures for the masses and conceiving new steps for accelerating pace of economic development and growth in the country is being presented in the National Assembly today at 5 P.M. Minister of State for Finance Omar Ayub Khan will present the budget at the floor of lower house and his speech will be telecast live over the Radio and Television from the Parliament House. The consolidated outlay of the next year budget is likely to be around Rs. 2 trillion. The budget this financial year (2007-08) will be on infrastructure, human capital and social sector development, poverty reduction, promotion of investments and exports, agriculture sector development and provision of relief to the common man. According to official sources the next budget would provide relief to the common man, besides accelerating pace of economic development in the country.

They added that the government was keen to provide relief to the people in the next budget for which concrete measures were under active consideration. The government has already indicated that in the Budget 2007-08, the enhancement in the salaries and pension of the government employees besides a number of measures for the relief of the people in the country. The budgetary relief would help the people to check inflationary burden. The budgetary measures would also help generate employment opportunities, check poverty and improve the quality of life of the people across the country, they remarked. They said that the Government in the budget is also focusing on human resource development and skill development of the manpower, which is indispensable ingredient for the rapid economic progress. The government is striving to accelerate economic activities in the country and it has enhanced the volume of Public Sector Development Programme for the FY2007-08 to the tune of Rs.520 billion. **Pakistan’s economy has grown at an average rate of almost 7.0 percent per annum during the last five years. **The real GDP grew strongly at 7.0 percent in 2006-07 and the growth of value addition in Commodity Producing Sector (CPS) is estimated to increase by 6.0% in 2006-07. During the FY 2006-07, major crops witnessed an impressive growth of 7.6 percent while livestock exhibited signs of moderation with growth of 4.3percent. Large-scale manufacturing registered a growth of 8.8% in 2006-07; the share of manufacturing sector has increased by 3.1 percent. The Construction registered a massive growth of 17.2 percent in 2006-07 while the services sector grew by 8.0%. The per capita income in dollar term has grown to $ 925 in 2006-07.

http://thenews.jang.com.pk/updates.asp?id=24039

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Re: National Budget for fiscal year 2007-08

Congratulations to President Mr. Musharaff, PM Mr. Shoakat Azaiz, and their team … today they made a history in Pakistan after presenting 5th the most successful budget by the same ruling party, congarts to Muslim League and allies :slight_smile:

Long live Pakistan… :jhanda:

Passwords
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Re: National Budget for fiscal year 2007-08

The tax base has grown massively under these 2. Rs 2 trillion is a big budget compared to the past. Allah will guide Pakistan to prosperity.

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Re: National Budget for fiscal year 2007-08

yaar stop fooling people around. Rs 2 trillion yes par jo Rs 1000 1999 main kharedta tha aaj even Rs 3-4,000 nahin khareedta, so I don't really see it as an achievement. This selective interpretation by a few here is what baffles me greatly...

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Re: National Budget for fiscal year 2007-08

choro dafa karo un ko, apna khoon na jalao soch soch kar, come and join me with Sarsoon ka saag and Makai di roti, tay feer lassi... want it ? garma garam...

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Re: National Budget for fiscal year 2007-08

Great achievements indeed! :k:

Parts of Omer Ayub Khan’s speech were interesting to watch. He was describing the details very passionately.

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Re: National Budget for fiscal year 2007-08

Haris, u watched the speech? did he mentioned the establishment of any institutions..like an autonomous tax collecting authority..FBR?

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Re: National Budget for fiscal year 2007-08

Lazim hay key hmm hi bughtain gay
jo tax bi setoon pey dala jaey ga
lazim hay key hmm hi bughtain gay

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Re: National Budget for fiscal year 2007-08

No Flame, not sure yet, as I was able to catch a few portions only since most of it was already done when I got back. I too was keen on learning what new or restructured institutions are up if any. haven't caught any news or talkshows since either so waiting for the reports and analysis on the highlights.

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Re: National Budget for fiscal year 2007-08

Alhamdu'lillah.

Mubarrak ho to Pakistan. Alot of respect to those who have waited patiently and believed in the peace and prosperity of Pakistan.

And I hope, those who are on the wrong side, the ungrateful ones, might someday will look back when President Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz aren't around and realise how the beautiful history of Pakistan's economy was made.

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Re: National Budget for fiscal year 2007-08

There is obviously a long way to go, but even WB and IMF data verifies the information of GoP in terms of economic progress.

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Re: National Budget for fiscal year 2007-08

No need for bafflement or mystery, you will notice the only people in Pakistan talking about the 'great achievments' of this govt are his fellow Mohajir Quami Movement supporters.

To everyone else, these 'great strides' in reducing corruption, poverty reduction, etc are clear

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Re: National Budget for fiscal year 2007-08

Mashallah, Alhamdulilallah, A great budget.

No doubt the supporters of ‘bhagorays and lootairays’ will continue with their moans and groans.

Pakistan Zindabad :jhanda:

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Re: National Budget for fiscal year 2007-08

^^

LOL, my point proven again :D

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Re: National Budget for fiscal year 2007-08

Alhamdulilallah. The supporters of ‘bhagorays and lootairays’ are stunned and lost for words. Let their moans and groans continue.

God bless the 3 A’s. Pakistan Zindabad :jhanda:

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Re: National Budget for fiscal year 2007-08

**Wondering how much of the 275 billion rupees allocated for defence will be spent on buying arms which will be used to defend Musharraf from the “Jahil” awam by mowing them in streets like in Karachi.

Pakistan announces budget hike as Musharraf seeks re-election**

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Pakistan on Saturday announced a big jump in its annual spending plans, hiking civil service pay and funds for education as well as military spending in an election year for both President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and his government.
The government announced a record budget of 1.6 trillion rupees (US$32.6 billion) for the year 2007-2008, up 21.7 percent from 1.3 trillion rupees in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.
Government spending has rocketed in recent years as tax reforms and strong economic growth have yielded bumper revenues. Musharraf, who claims credit for the boom, has used the proceeds for a string of major infrastructure projects, such as building dams and roads.
** However, critics say the economic expansion has helped a narrow elite and created inflation that makes it hard for the vast majority of Pakistan’s 160 million people to make ends meet. They also criticize continued high spending on the military.
The 2007-08 budget envisages defense expenditure of 275 billion rupees (US$4.5 billion; €3.9 billion), an increase of 10 percent on the previous year.**

Other highlights include a 28-percent hike in education funding to 24.1 billion rupees (US$400 million; €300 million), while the health sector would get 10 percent more money.
Minister of state for finance, Omar Ayub Khan, said the government would also introduce more subsidies on food items to ease the impact of inflation. Government employees will get a 15 percent pay rise, he said.
“By the grace of God, we are in a position to fulfill our promises. We will provide better heath and education facilities to the people,” Khan told parliament. “Our economy has shown improvement, and we have more money to spend for the welfare of the people.”
Musharraf, who plans to ask lawmakers for a new five-year term this fall, is urging Pakistanis to vote for his supporters in parliamentary elections later in the year, saying they will ward off Islamic extremism and keep Pakistan on course for greater prosperity.

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Re: National Budget for fiscal year 2007-08

In my opinion, Ahsan Iqbal and Prof. Khurshid Ahmed r among the few opposition members who criticized the budget on principles...instead of scoring political points.

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Re: National Budget for fiscal year 2007-08

Btw manufacturing still grew by 8%, but fell short of the target of 11% growth.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/06/09/top1.htm

snapshot.

Avatars
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Re: National Budget for fiscal year 2007-08

Indeed it was good budget on papers, the most of the figures and facts are undisputable, but the point stand still, where is COMMON MAN in the budget, when will he be benefited?

instead of chanigng the name of institutions, why don't they change the system?

Indeed govt's policies have put Pakistan on right track, but at the same time govt should cut down cost by down-sizing in her backyard, and spent same saved amount for providing releif on solid grounds ( means provide a kind of infrastructure where common man can also prosper)? when is that going to happen?

Govt. is trying to tackle with "deo of mehanga'i" on short term basis, "subsidies is never a solution" i don't know when will govt understand this, they are planning spending billions in category of subsidies, but why don't they do something real on the ground to avoid it ( iam sure it will be quarter of the cost to prosecute the stockists) . anyway these subsidies are given from our tax money and can be taken back at any given day, at any given mini-budget.

Long Live Pakistan

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Re: National Budget for fiscal year 2007-08

Miracles dont happen.

Although I havent had a chance to properly look at the budget, the few reliefs offered are minimum wage increment, the 15% salary increment for emplyees and pensioners, the removal of 15% GST on chicken meat, the availability of subsidised food items at Utility stores and an expansion of utility stores network so that there is one in every council, the removal of some duties on home generators and other stuff. Like I said I didnt get a chance a to sit and analyze the budget properly.

Lets see who the common man is. Do you know that the biggest single business community in Pakistan is the small traders? Yes the parchoon and kiryana shops in Pakistan. DO you know how many of them pay any taxes? less than 1%, but then again probably only 30-35% of them make enough to fall under the tax bracket. Do you know what happens when government provides subsidised items at utility stores? All these kiryana merchants give 10 rupees to afghan street kids to stand in line and buy most of the stuff off the shelf. Do you know how many people in Pakistan pay their electricity bill? very few and only in bigger cities.

Surprisingly most industrialists pay taxes and their utilities. Yes they use innovative accounting techniques to keep it to a minimum, but those loop holes are in every tax system and are used and abused by everyone in the world. Majority of Pakistan population is associated with agriculture, on which there are no taxes. Imagine what will happen if any government apply a tax on agriculture.

It is easy to cry that there is no relief for the common man, but in my view the common man brought it upon themselves. With the kind of tax bracket we have Pakistan's growth rate is amazing. And please this has got nothing to do with Musharraf's government. I am talking about the difficulties faced by any government, be it nawaz, bibi or musharraf.

With such low revenue generation thru tax, the governments hands are tied. The surgharges on utilities that some of us have to pay are because of our "common man" brethren who dont want to pay a single dime for electricity. The high fuel prices in Pakistan are mainly due to the reason that it is the only sure shot way of collecting revenue from the common man. The high prices on food items is because all traders are unionized and any regulatory effort by the government is met by strikes and further hikes.

As I have said before, change will come once we, the common man, becoms honest. We cannot go to masjid five times a day and be called haji saabs, yet cheat on taxes, utility bills, hoard stuff in our godowns and warehouses or in the back of our shops to hike prices.

"Common man" is unfortunately the "biggest thief" in Pakistan bhai saab.